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Even a few of our detractors have now come around
I start with the economy and the idea of Michael Gove and Boris Johnson that somehow FDR shows us the way out of this mess they have created. Sure,conscript all the snowflakes, after they have finished their degrees in media and gender studies and send them to invade Albania. It sort of worked in 1939. Seriously, this is more madness. Then I look at the nature of fraud and our failure to tackle it ref Wirecast, Blur and auditor EY now being sued by 1,000 cockwomble investors who "thought they knew better."
Blur Group (BLUR) floated at 82p and half a decade and a name change later delisted from the AIM casino at 0.23p. In its five years of AIM casino infamy led by CEO Philipl Letts and his ghastly Mrs, Kara Cardinale, who was the Chief Delivery Officer, it was slammed by the FRC for dodgy accounting, had numerous lack of profits warnings and bailout placings and was a case study in value destruction. As a reminder here is the track record during Letts' tenure as CEO:
I start with a comment on the amazing generosity of one person donating more than £11,000 to Rogue Bloggers for Woodlarks yesterday. It was not Neil Woodford though I did ask. Anyhow: to the 75% of you yet to donate think of me this weekend on a) my last training walk ahead of 33 miles next weekend and b) entertaining a visiting mother in law. As you think of my weekend, please donate HERE. In the podcast I discuss Woodford's latest bad news, Maistro (MAIS), Blur as was, UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) and Staffline (STAF). I also offer advice to Andrew Monk on which 1 AIM stock he should buy today for his mother's IHT Portfolio.
Retained losses are £27 million and counting, the shares have collapsed from 82p at IPO to just 0.4p, Blur (BLUR), now rebranded as Maistro (MAIS), has been a disaster for investors but at least its founder Phil Letts and his ghastly wife who was also on a fat salary have been able to buy and upgrade a Country mansion, as we noted HERE. Today as it issued another lack of profits warning and warned of another cash crisis, Maistro says it is going to delist from the AIM Cesspit.
Last week I noted CEO of ‘Procurement-as-a-Service’ platform company Maistro (MAIS, formerly Blur), Laurence Cook is “pleased to report on the significant progress that has been made in 2018”… so why a further share price fall? Today an announcement; “Surrender and Grant of Share Options” – and the shares further lower, towards 1p…
CEO of ‘Procurement-as-a-Service’ platform company Maistro (MAIS, formerly Blur), Laurence Cook is “pleased to report on the significant progress that has been made in 2018”. The shares have responded currently to 1.25p – 4% lower. Hmmm…
Having risen from just above 4p to 5p last week post announcements, including results for the first half of 2017, shares in blur Group (BLUR) are now again retreating…
Those seeking to oust the board at Stratex (STI) have not been playing with a straight bat as an RNS late yesterday made clear. They are vermin who should be sent packing. Ditto Professor Conroy of Conroy Gold & Natural Resources (CGNR). I have news on his latest courtroom scrape in Dublin and also on the Afren (AFR) whistleblower to whom I make a generous offer. I am warming to Blur (BLUR) after today's placing and am almost tempted to nibble now that ghastly Phil Letts and his even more ghastly Mrs have gone. There is a detailed analysis of interims from Watchstone (WTG) - Quindell as was. Do not get suckered by that headline cash number. It is not real and the shares are a sell. Finally there is an update on the African Potash (AFPO) and Paragon Diamonds (PRG) litigation.
On Monday evening we were treated to the shock news that blur (BLUR) founder Phil Letts had been given the order of the boot just 18 days after his ghastly Mrs Kara Cardinale was also handed a P45 and a black bin liner. While the two of them relax at their luxury Devon Estate, shares in blur have enjoyed a relief rally to 4.75p ( now just 98.5% off their peak) but is that share price spike justified. Like hell it is.
At 7 AM yesterday AIM uber dog Blur (BLUR) announced its god-awful results. At 8 AM after a bailout placing had been approved its shares came out of suspension. In the 7 AM results statement CEO Phil Letts noted "I welcome the new board members to blur and look forward to working with them." It seems the feeling was not mutual. By 5.32 PM Blur was announcing that Letts was leaving. Make no mistake, he was fired.
Following it having missed the six month deadline for full-year accounts publication (as, pending the securing of funding, it was “unable to sign-off the audit”) – and the shares resultantly having been suspended, blur Group (BLUR) now “is pleased to announce its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2016”. Hmmm, “pleased” hey?…
Having at the end of last week announced a conditional, bailout (and thus dilution-extraordinaire – a gross £1.75 million at 1.75p per share) placing, blur Group (BLUR) has now announced immediate effect “Board Restructuring”…
Blur (BLUR) was floated at 82p. Today after five years of accounting fraud, operational failure and cash guzzling it is doing another bailout placing at just 1.75p so leaving its long suffering shareholders 98% down. As part of today's bailout a number of directors have "been resigned" including Kara Cardinale, hithero paid an arm and a leg as Chief Delivery Officer. Chief what the fuck???
A “Holding(s) in Company” announcement in Blur Group (BLUR) of a transaction on Friday – the day in which at 7am it released an “Update on financing, business plan and trading”…
I see shares in Blur (BLUR) are tanking again. Quelle suprise - given that it could be tits up time in three weeks. Anyhow for Phil Letts and his fellow grossly overpaid director his Mrs a song to brighten up the day. Natch as I think happily to a concert way back then in a summer's evening in Mile End Park, it's by Blur... To The End!
It walks the walk and talks the talk when it comes to spouting A grade corporate horse. And so another day comes with another trading statement from the shamed and hapless Phil Letts and his worthless Blur Group (BLUR). There are KPIs aplenty and stacks of words about new business initiatives. Yadda, yadda, yadda. The main point is the admission that could be bust within three weeks. TOLD Y'ALL!
Previously commenting on blur Group (BLUR) I noted CEO Letts & co excelling themselves with a leading contender for ‘Ramparoonie RNS of the Year’. We today have a “blur engaged with UK County Council” announcement. Surely not again…
If you object to bad language do not listen. The madness and corruption of AIM, the willingness of the crony capitalists to deceive investors to get away another placing just got to me. In today's podcast I cover Blur (BLUR) - but would commend young Steve's coverage which is superb HERE, FastForward (FFWD) - the Jim Mellon spoof - Advanced Oncotherapy (DOG), Independent Resources (IRG), Amur Minerals (AMC), Sunrise Resources (SRES) and Zenith Energy (ZEN).
Having last month failed to ignite the share price with a ramptastic “blur engaged with Top 100 UK law firm” announcement, blur Group (BLUR) has had much more success today – on the back of a “blur engaged with Global Electronics Group” announcement, the shares currently 200%+ higher at above 20p…
blur Group (BLUR) has announced “key metrics for Q4 2016”, in the same opening paragraph noting “FY 2016 EBITDA is expected to be ahead of expectations”. EBITDA is of course not a ‘key metric’, but bullshit earnings. What about the real key metrics – cash generation and the balance sheet position?...
Yes, I am indeed resident at a motorway service station as I explain HERE. In today's podcast I look at ethics, Milestone (MSG), Strat Aero (AERO), SalvaRx (SALV), Gulf Keystone (GKP), Blur (BLUR) - as a long I kid you not - and Audioboom (BOOM), er..less so.
A Q3 Trading statement today from long term dog blur (BLUR) is pretty dismal and the shares have crashed another 34% to 3.375p. Putting that in context - this company listed 49 months ago at 82p and has been a dog ever since. Surely it is only a matter of time before the vet arrives with needle to put this sick puppy out of its misery.
Hello Sailor! Coooeeee - that looks really big. Are you excited yet? Oooh what an interesting release. Yes Phil Letts at Blur Group (BLUR) has again announced information which even he knows is utterly insignificant. Phil can see that his share price is drooping rapidly ahead of the next bailout placing and is desperate to get it up.
This morning's article on Cloudtag (CTAG) should be yet another red flag and Lucian and I should served up one more soonish. Just how many red flags to the morons need to see? I ask this after a fellow asks me what he should do about his collapsing investment in TrakM8 (TRAK). Answer you should have listened to me when the shares were double today's price! I also look at Impact Holdings (IHUK) and then offer warnings about Blur (DOG), Rosslyn Data (RDT), Strat Aero (AERO) where, in all three cases, I'm sure it is placing ahoy and I explain why. And I look at why the Footsie is heading through 7,000 and where next.
Pornography, naked women, sheep shagging Taffs. Actually there is nothing of the sort in this bearcast but I mention it just to annoy Kay Larsen,a prudish and stupid PR spinner for Sepura (SEPU). Kay is a really silly cow and we have crossed swords before so I rub her nose in it with her client whose statement today is a scandal. The rozzers really need to have a butchers. Then I cover Modern Water (MWG), Falcon Oil & Gas (FOG) and a trio of uber dogs with uber fleas: Blur (BLUR), Inspirit (INSP) and related party Octagonal (OCT). Then I look at Phil Edmonds creation Sable (SBLM) which is now a month away from AIM casino death. Its sister company is the fraud African Potash (AFPO) and I cover this matter in detail. It looks as if the Mrs will give birth tomorrow so if I take a break and you miss me either listen to the archive HERE or google "tourettes audio" and find something similar. Warning: this podcast contains some very bad language especially for the prude Kay Larsen.
Prodigious cash-burning machine (sorry, services platform and marketplace group), blur (BLUR) “is pleased to present its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2016”. Hmmm – this with the shares down from a start of the year 17p (and much, much higher when we first started warning) to a current little more than 7p…
I start with the bad news for whoever owns Fred Olsen. I think look at Octagonal (OCT), Blur (BLUR), much ramped Keras Resources (KRS), XCite Energy (XEL), Magnolia Petroleum (MAGP), 88 Energy (88E), Highlands Natural Resources (HNR), Sareum (SAR) and then a joke IPO called Widecells (WDC), which listed yesterday and is now the subject of a ramp. Feel the stem cells. No actually don't. Just sell.
The hapless Phil Letts, founder and CEO of disaster story Blur (BLUR) must surely know that his time - and that of his grossly overpaid Mrs - is almost up. After another dire trading statement today, There's No Other Way, as Blur used to say:
I am back in from the fields where I have been labouring in 40 degree plus heat. Today I offer a few thoughts on Circassia (CIR) and the risks folks just dont seem to appreciate of a) biotech and b) backing stock selections of star fund managers, in this case Neil Woodford - who incidentally is clearly a very talented chap. I look at Gulf Keystone (GKP), XCite Energy (XEL), China Frauds and then in some detail at Blur (BLUR). For further info on its brain dead dickhead of a PR man Dominic Barretto go HERE
It was just a few weeks ago that Avanti Communications (AVN) shares were in the decade of Blur and Oasis (the nineties) and bombastic CEO David Williams tried to spoof us all with a trivial share purchase costing him about all of two days of his obscene salary. Pretty quickly the shares slipped through the Maggie years and into the era of Abba and the Winter of Discontent. As I speak we are at Dana.
Perennial cash-burning machine, sorry “Enterprise Services Platform & Marketplace”, blur (BLUR) “is pleased to announce the signing of a two year contract with a FTSE 250 multi-channel retail group”. Apparently, this contract win “demonstrates that business leaders and large corporates are increasingly acknowledging the need to prioritize their unmanaged, indirect business services spend and recognize that blur's platform offers an efficient and agile solution to drive new efficiencies within indirect spend”. Hmmm…
Hello to the chairman of the LSE and all other readers of this website and welcome to the daily podcast. In detail I look at Outsourcery (OUT) the crock of Turkish run by serial business failure Piers Linney and Blur (BLUR) the piece of Turkish run by uber-poltroon Phil Letts. Which is more worthless? Discuss. Having behaved myself with no bad language at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) AGM I am aware that my standards rather slipped in this podcast. You have been warned. I also cover MX Oil (MXO), Cambian (CMBN), Hunter Resources (HUN) and the uber Turkish Rose Petrooleum (ROSE) whose RNS today screams SELL - PLACING AHOY!
I have won £5 from Shipston's Buffett for tracking down a long lost cousin to whom he has not spoken in 50 years. That is my main achievment today. I shall comment on InternetQ (INTQ) and MX Oil (MXO) elsewhere. I start with a look at BP (BP.) and explain why we have bought the shares today. Then I look at Corero (CNS) in detail and at Condor Gold (CNR), Nighthawk (HAWK), Petroceltic (PCI), Mosman (MSMN) and Aureus (AUE) before a detailed look at the dog Blur (BLUR).
On 13 June I started my 21 stock Death list portfolio - 21 shares heading for zero or being booted off the market - see HERE. On 23 August I got my first kill and so Afren (AFR) was replaced by Daniel Stewart (DAN) HERE. I have now had four more kills and nearly all those that have survived have seen their shares tank. Now I update with 4 new entrants given that I have had four more kills and I review the original entrants that cling on. The stocks mentioned are: Worthington, JQW, Jiasen, Camkids, China Chaintek, Trap Oil, Mosman Oil & Gas, Monitise, Outsourcery, Magnolia Petroleum, Arian Silver, Sareum, Avanti Communications, Daniel Stewart, Mariana Resources, Sefton Resources, Golden Saint Resources, Sovereign Mines of Africa, Afren, Wandisco, Tungsten, Blur, Auhua, Afriag and InternetQ
The annual ritual is complete. The Mrs and I have photographed my morbidly obese three legged cat Oakley in his Christmas hat and even Tara played her part posing in the hat and in a stocking. And thus our rather un-Christian cards are now in production. Awway from that I have a long look at Slater & Gordon (SGH) where the management has just allowed the bears a chance to sell even more shares. Jabba The Hutt stocks Solo (SOLO) and LGO Energy (LGO) get a mention as does Aureus Mining (AUE) with its hugely discounted placing. Alba (ALBA) is clearly lining up its next confetti issue and I comment on that as well as Blur (BLUR), Outsourcery (OUT), Wandisco (WAND), Plant Health Care (PHC), Gulf Keystone (GKP) and NAHL (NAH), Finally I commend the CEO of ValiRx (VAL) who attended Gold & Bears on Saturday and was incredibly poilite. Memo to TW. I will be less beastly to her in 2016.
And boy did the grossly overpaid poltroon Phil Letts serve up a stack of metrics in this trading update. KPIs, metrics, MBA tosser jargon, it was all in there. But buried at the bottom was the cash position. Ouch. When’s the next placing Phil?
Interrupted by fuckwit PR men and a host of other things this is not a good day. But at least in 48 hours Pizza hardman Darren Atwater has the FSAL headache and I shall be away from acursed London and back in Bristol. On the podcast today: Outsourcery (OUT), Wandicso (WAND), Paragon Diamonds (PRG), Sefton Resources (SER), Fitbug (FITB), Koovs (KOOV), Boohoo.com (BOO), Daniel Stewart (DAN), Golden Saint Resources (GSR) and Blur (BLUR).
Featuring shares in Blur Group (BLUR), Empyrean Energy (EME), Hurricane Energy (HUR), Tri-Star Resources(TSTR) with share price targets set for all four stocks
The Bear shares portfolio I outlined for summer on 19 July HERE is doing pretty well i.e tanking. Yesterday I outlined my reasons for continuing to remain bearish at a macro level HERE and I also refer to an excellent piece on Zero Hedge HERE. Then I return to the bear portfolio which is:
Another day and another non-news announcement from the lamentable excuse for a company that is Blur (BLUR) – the fact is that it is hyping the shares as it is rapidly running out of cash. Anyone who has bought the shares this morning needs their head examining.
Okay, the sabbatical really does start this week so maybe not that many bearcasts from now. But for today I explain why the market will be harder for non profit stocks and on that basis I start with a reference to my 21 stock death list of last month (Afren looks to be the first to fall) HERE but also refer to the excellent must read piece by Lucian Miers yesterday HERE. And then I launch into my 10 top shorts for summer. Companies mentioned are:
So Paul "Trotsky" Scott, "Red" Darren Atwater, George "the twat" Osborne and your out of touch cabinet pals who have never risked their capital to run an SME, PR supremo Reg "crony capitalist" Hoare et al you want me to pay my staff £9 an hour. Let me tell you about Christina and why I am in such a foul mood today. Warning this podcast contains a stream of bad langauge. I also cover Greece, Blur, Johnston Press, Mosman Oil & Gas (0p here we come) and Armadale Capital.
Following another shambolic “trading update” from blur Group (BLUR) last month, the shambles has continued. You couldn’t make this stuff up…
It is almost time for the "placing song" but not quite. In this podcast I look at Fox Marble, Coms, Image Scan (in detail), Blur and Tethys. Warning strong language used in connection with the total POS that used to do PR for Image Scan, itself a total POS.
Shares in blur Group (BLUR) currently trade a further more than 30% lower today, at around 55p, on the back of more financial reporting woes. The following updates, though don’t say I didn’t warn you – see, for example, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE…
Today's profits warning from Blur is a shocker in every respect. It allows me to wander down memory lane to a date with Mellissa Hellberg in Mile End park, to a revised version of both Girls & Boys and Park life but also to examine this whole sorry saga from top to bottom. Warning: This podcast contains both singing and explicit language.
I stand accused yet again of insulting the entire investment community and of delighting in folks losing money. Au contraire, I delight when Bulletin Board Morons lose money but that is just a small group of those who use BBs.
It seems that I disagree with Comrade Malcolm Stacey once again as I discuss whether a stock on a PE of 22 (Diageo or JD Wetherspoon) can be desribed as cheap. I then discuss what should be in a trading statement looking at Foxtons, Blur and Outsourcery - run by the ghastly Piers Linney - and what this says about shares in all three.
Shares in provider of an online platform for the provision of services, blur Group (BLUR) have now declined to sub 50p - having been circa 730p a year ago. The following reviews post a trading update last week and now an update from Edison Investment Research.
The prize will be a champagne meal for two at Real Man Pizza Company or something similar as today we launch the new ShareProphets competition which will run throughout 2015. Welcome to AIM Casino Fantasy Football own Goal. The Rules are simple.
Just a quick podcast special looking at how companies lie and mislead investors via RNS and also RNS Reach. The latter & its true (lack of) import is explained. Case studies Blur, Optimal Payments, Quindell (natch) and Outsourcery
I am starting to feel quite ill and am looking forward to getting back to Bristol and heading off to bed with two cats as hot water bottles and a stiff whiskey. That is not a typo, emember my genetic origins. Ahead of that today's podcast exposed Paul Farrelly MP (Lab) as a useless POS, puts the Tories on the spot on AIM regulation and covers Naibu, Daniel Stewart and the new Daniel Stewart (ZAI), Hargreves Services and Quindell. I also look at tech stocks to short: Blur, Wandisco, Mopowered and Outsourcery
Following a further revenue and profit warning from blur Group (BLUR) last week I updated that there may eventually be some consistent delivery of expectations, but the recent track record suggests continued caution and, whilst a focus on spin rather than just simply explaining the operational reality remains, this is a share I wouldn’t be comfortable holding anyway. The following reviews a rather more bullish research update.
“Currently in line with management expectations in respect of new project bookings, ahead of plan for new and repeat enterprise projects, and ahead of its plan on costs”. Sounds good. “The group has cash resources of $20m to comfortably sustain it through to profitability and cash flow positive”. Still sounding good. “Whilst revenue growth has been strong, a small number of large projects, which have been submitted to the exchange, will not kick off until early 2015, which will impact the group's revenue and therefore profitability for the full year ending 31 December 2014”. Oh!
The normal Bearcast will be up a bit later. However I was struck by news releases issued today by ASOS (ASC), Northern Petroleum (NOP), Blur (BLUR) and Globo (GBO) and so recorded a podcast special. Superficially it might seem like good news all round, however:
This is a truly brilliant spreadsheet from Paul Scott, the person I rate as the UK’s top share blogger and an all-round nice guy to boot. In saying all round this is not a reference to his figure although…. Paul does not write for this site and is fiercely independent in his views but he has graciously allowed me to publish this anyway. And so especially for followers of Quindell (QPP), Globo (GBO), Outsourcery (OUT) and a good few others…
Since my previous update on blur Group (BLUR), the shares have slipped further – to a current 75p. Having at one stage early this year reached almost 800p, some see value at current levels. But is this illusory?
Shares in business services marketplace operator in the ‘cloud’, blur Group plc (BLUR) are currently little changed at around 90p on the back of the results of a fundraising, which saw the company’s CEO Philip Letts “delighted by the broad support shown by so many of our shareholders… including members of the board”. But should delight also be felt by other shareholders here?
Post a latest share price crash on its announcing of a fundraising and delayed results for the 2013 calendar year last month, shares in online business services marketplace provider blur Group (BLUR) have recovered somewhat following an upbeat note from its house broker, N+1 Singer, and some director share buying. Should you follow them? Er....
It's great that the 2014 AIM Cesspit Awards are this year being held once again at The Real Man Pizza Company, Clerkenwell, London. I hope there are chips on the menu this year! The food was rather poncy/rich for my taste buds! The last known case of gout in Northern England was actually a Southerner who relocated for the BBC. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time last year. Not to be taken too seriously it's just a bit of a laugh or if you're from London "Larffff"
blur (BLUR) has been bailed out by a hugely discounted fund raise today at just 75p. Existing investors face 37% dilution but even assuming the maximum $20 million is raised this dog with fleas is not out of the woods yet as the note just out from the broker that organised this placing (N+1 Singer) makes painfully clear.
Shares in online business services marketplace provider blur Group (BLUR) currently trade 22% lower today, at 82p, following its announcement of a fundraising and delayed results for the 2013 calendar year. With Ben Turney already having reviewed the former HERE, I now take a look at the results.
Shareholders in Blur group (BLUR) woke up to a nasty shock this morning. 37% of the company has been sold in a placement, at 75p a share. It is staggering to think that Blur Group peaked at 820p, only four months ago. Reminiscent of the DotCom collapse, fourteen years ago, these sort of wipeouts just shouldn't happen. But when people get sucked into rampant, speculative hype and good old fashioned valuation methods get thrown out of the window, is it any surprise that so many get scorched fingers?
